The National Apology

“Today we honour the Indi­gen­ous peoples of this land, the oldest con­tinu­ing cul­tures in human history.

We reflect on their past mis­treat­ment. We reflect in par­tic­u­lar on the mis­treat­ment of those who were stolen gen­er­a­tions – this blem­ished chapter in our nation’s history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Aus­trali­a’s his­tory by right­ing the wrongs of the past and so moving for­ward with con­fid­ence to the future.

We apo­lo­gise for the laws and policies of suc­cess­ive Par­lia­ments and Gov­ern­ments that have inflic­ted pro­found grief, suf­fer­ing and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apo­lo­gise espe­cially for the removal of Abori­ginal and Torres Strait Islander chil­dren from their fam­il­ies, their com­munit­ies and their country.

For the pain, suf­fer­ing and hurt of these stolen gen­er­a­tions, their des­cend­ants and for their fam­il­ies left behind, we say sorry.

To the moth­ers and the fath­ers, the broth­ers and the sis­ters, for the break­ing up of fam­il­ies and com­munit­ies, we say sorry.

And for the indig­nity and degrad­a­tion thus inflic­ted on a proud people and a proud cul­ture, we say sorry.

We the Par­lia­ment of Aus­tralia respect­fully request that this apo­logy be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the heal­ing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolv­ing that this new page in the his­tory of our great con­tin­ent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknow­ledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Par­lia­ment resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we har­ness the determ­in­a­tion of all Aus­trali­ans, Indi­gen­ous and non-Indi­gen­ous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expect­ancy, edu­ca­tional achieve­ment and eco­nomic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the pos­sib­il­ity of new solu­tions to endur­ing prob­lems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Aus­trali­ans, whatever their ori­gins, are truly equal part­ners, with equal oppor­tun­it­ies and with an equal stake in shap­ing the next chapter in the his­tory of this great coun­try, Australia.”

I add to that: I am sorry for the pain and suf­fer­ing of the first peoples of this land and grate­ful for their con­tin­ued tol­er­ance of our pres­ence here. Thank you for allow­ing me to exper­i­ence grow­ing up in this amaz­ing land.